The power of collaborative approaches

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During the past year, in the middle of a worldwide health and economic crisis, the hashtag #weareinthistogether went viral for a while. It was used in a wide spread of industries and also covered my “home industry”  – aviation.

The feeling of #weareinthistogether let to a new social helpfulness  between individuals and companies which empowered and inspired creative solutions. The purpose to assist, help and to  provide safety and support as far as possible to the people around us – it kept us going. Moving forward and to fight our own uncertainties. But over time I can’t help to recognize the hashtag misused to cover the sales approach under the impression of unity.

So what really counts to keep the positive spirit alive for collaborative approaches?

For those who know me, it is no secret that I always have been a believer in networks, cooperation and combining strengths of individuals and companies.

No matter if locally or globally, within single industries or even across multiple companies who naturally are competitors – the essence of a successful collaborative alliance is certainly the joint purpose of those on the table. In business alliances, “those” aren’t the companies only. It is the people who create, develop, understand, learn, discuss, elevate - and show the passion to make change happen.

I had the unbelievable luck to be part to create an alliance within the aircraft modification aftermarket. We started in 2019 with the 4 founding partners. It has been the individual representatives of those companies who invested their knowledge, time, trust and spirit to formulate joint objectives – and convinced their colleagues, management and partners to invest into this future long-term alliance. Those believers were the first key ingredient to successfully create the the alliance as an open non-profit association within just one year.

Soon after the general agreement amongst the founding members, all partners allocated their best employees to the alliance working groups who collectively filled the key initiative “buzzwords” with life. The elected working group steering heads kept their groups together and managed stormy phases of discussions.

The ability to listen and learn from each other combined with trust into the crowd intelligence was the 2nd key ingredient to shape the alliance. All working group members representing their companies showed a tremendous ability to put away the individual ego and truly worked as a team. It is the individuals who bring an alliance to life and any single one is important – It needs a team to win the race.

First new members joined the alliances as early adopters who all did commit in the very early phase. When the COVID19 crisis hit the world, the alliance was just born and its first all-members official General Assembly was held under lock-down circumstances.

What keeps the alliance moving forward were the challenges the members are facing – overcoming those together formed the joint purpose - even before COV19 hit the world and its people.

All the ingredients above – believers, ability to listen & learn, trust into crowd intelligence and the joint purpose – creates an environment in which the alliance is able to adapt to quick changes.

It forms the real #weareinthistogether. Collegial, informative, helpful – so simple words -  brought  together to create a collaborative power which keeps the alliance growing and succeeding.

It is an honor to work in such an environment!

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